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Peach salsa, gourmet jam, gluten-free snacks -- these are just a few of the locally made foods consumers can find throughout Pennsylvania, thanks to food entrepreneurs who put their ideas into action. The commonwealth is fortunate to have an abundance of these entrepreneurs, and Penn State Extension helps equip them with the knowledge and skills they need to succeed in their food business.

Business and Industry

Business and Industry

A new stream-based monitoring system recently discovered high levels of methane in a Pennsylvania stream near the site of a reported Marcellus shale gas well leak, according to researchers at Penn State and the U.S. Geological Survey. The system could be a valuable screening tool to assess the environmental impact of extracting natural gas using fracking.

No longer the stuff of science fiction movies, electric vehicles are a reality, and they’re coming to Penn State Berks in the form of a donation of a Nissan Leaf from Eisenhauer Nissan. Pete Eisenhauer, owner of Eisenhauer Nissan, will hand the keys over to Penn State Berks Chancellor R. Keith Hillkirk at 2:30 p.m. Thursday, April 2, in front of the lion shrine, just outside the Thun Library.

Axalta Coating Systems, a leading global manufacturer of liquid and powder coatings, and Penn State today jointly announced a partnership that will include an on-campus press event and special learning opportunities with Jeff Gordon and his team at Pocono Raceway. The program, designed to drive awareness and support for STEM and business education, will focus on students currently engaged in the study of engineering and business.

The School of Theatre will present “Julius Caesar” on the steps of Old Main, at 7:30 p.m. April 15–17. Free and open to the public, the production features School of Theatre faculty member and alumnus Wendell Franklin as Julius Caesar, alumnus Nathan James as Brutus, and numerous theater undergraduate and graduate students in the other roles. This production is set in a contemporary African nation to draw parallels between modern African dictatorships and Shakespeare’s Roman Republic of 44 B.C. under the dictatorship of Julius Caesar.

Tim Baird’s project, “Urban Arboreta: Tree Nurseries Transform Vacant Lands,” has been chosen as a winner of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation’s Knight Cities Challenge. Baird, professor of landscape architecture at Penn State and Deenah Loeb, Executive Director of City Parks Association of Philadelphia, co-authored one of the 32 wining proposals from an initial applicant pool of 7,000 that had been narrowed down to the 126 finalists who submitted detailed proposals.

The Penn State Smeal College of Business has earned the No. 1 rank in undergraduate supply chain technology education and the No. 4 spot in graduate education, according to Software Advice, a subsidiary of IT research and advisory firm Gartner.

Business students at Penn State DuBois heard first-hand accounts of the hard work, and the rewards, involved in running a small business from a local business owner recently. Dave Hoar, owner of Lucky Leaf Property Services of DuBois, was the final speaker to visit the classroom in a series this semester aimed at exposing students to small business operations by interacting with real business owners. Hoar visited the Business 250 class, Problems of Small Business, which requires each student to invite a small business owner to campus and interview that person about their experiences. Tige Woodson, a member of the campus wrestling team, interviewed Hoar, who is also the head coach of the wrestling team.

In Heng Xu’s career, combining science and art has brought a new way of interpreting data to life — an innovation that might help consumers understand, follow and afford tomorrow’s fashion trends. Xu, an associate professor of information sciences and technology at Penn State, is collecting and analyzing data to gain insight into the needs, motivations and behaviors of the fashion industry, retailers and consumers.

A website that focuses on high school sports in northern Indiana and goes beyond game coverage -- tackling timely topics and issues that matter to competitors as well as administrators, coaches and fans -- was selected as the winner of a national award administered by the John Curley Center for Sports Journalism at Penn State.

Earvin “Magic” Johnson will be the distinguished speaker for the 2015 finale of both the Schreyer Honors College’s Shaping the Future Summit and the Student Programming Association’s Distinguished Speaker Series at 7 p.m. April 1 in Eisenhower Auditorium.

Pennsylvania's large forest-products industry will be showcased during the 2015 Forest Products Equipment and Technology Exposition, June 5-6 at Penn State's Ag Progress Days site at Rock Springs. Known as Timber 2015, the biennial trade exposition is hosted by the Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences and the Pennsylvania Forest Products Association. Parking and admission are free.